Kocatepe Mosque

Kocatepe Mosque is the largest mosque in Ankara, Turkey, built between 1967 and 1987 in the Kocatepe quarter of Kızılay. Its size and prominent location make it a landmark visible from almost anywhere in central Ankara.

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• The mosque is built in a neo-classical Ottoman architectural style.
• Its design was inspired by the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, as well as the Shehzade and Sultan Ahmet mosques in Istanbul.
• The mosque's size and prominent situation make it a landmark visible from almost anywhere in central Ankara.
• It is the largest mosque in Ankara.

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• The mosque is in the Kocatepe quarter of Kızılay, about one kilometre southeast of Kızılay Square.
• Its scale and position make it visible from much of central Ankara.
• The completed design draws on Selimiye Mosque and the Şehzade and Sultan Ahmed mosques.

Een stukje geschiedenis

The idea for the mosque dates to the 1940s. In 1944, a society was formed to build a mosque in Yenişehir, Ankara. After several architectural competitions, an early modernist design by Vedat Dalokay and Nejat Tekelioğlu was chosen, but construction was halted due to conservative criticism. A later competition in 1967 selected a more conservative design by Hüsrev Tayla and M. Fatin Uluengin, which was completed in 1987.